


No Gifts

by its_mike_kapufty



Series: Rhink Ficlets [22]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Birthday, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Letters, Light Angst, M/M, Mythical Wives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-11-02 05:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20630972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_mike_kapufty/pseuds/its_mike_kapufty
Summary: The problem with not giving Rhett a birthday present is that Link can't be sure whether Rhett's getting the appreciation he deserves on his special day.When the opportunity arises, he decides to look into it.





	No Gifts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ItsLora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsLora/gifts).

> Happy birthday, Lora!! ❤ To one of the biggest sweethearts in the fandom and constant source of optimism and love! The first mythical beast I ever met in person! You are an absolute peachy gem and I'm so happy to have you as a friend, my little lima bean. >:)
> 
> This is unbeta'd, sorry for any mistakes!

They’d decided “no gifts.”

Frankly, it's probably time; the front they’d put on the show over the past few years for clicks had been draining enough in itself. Always trying to outdo the other with homemade pizza and redwood trees and miniature horse sponsorships and _ stars. _ The stars themselves! As if there’s any way Link could top the vast expanse of the universe condensed down to a sparkling microcosm and named in his image. The only way he could do that would be to call in reinforcements from the wives, and he's sure Jessie doesn't wanna come up with _two _gift ideas for Rhett.

So it had been the first time in memory that once Good Mythical Summer had ended and Good Mythical Morning was back in the forefront of everyone’s minds, Rhett had pulled Link aside and asked him preemptively to quietly let his birthday pass by unseen by viewers.

“We didn’t used to exchange gifts anyhow,” Rhett had argued with a limp shrug. “We started doin’ it for the camera and it just kinda feels… inauthentic. Silly.”

“Right. I get that.” And Link hadn't pointed out that Rhett was wrong, that they _ had _ given one another presents. Once upon a time. When they’d been younger. No matter; he'd agreed with the sentiment. “You don’t think the beasts will notice?”

“Some of ‘em will, I’m sure. But not most.” Rhett had turned his attention back to his laptop with fatigue drooping his eyelids, cast in the golden evening glow of summer from the window. “Just promise me you won’t get me nothin’ this year.”

Link had simply nodded, contemplative. “I promise.”

That had been well before October 11th. Rhett’s birthday.

Today’s date, as well, and the memory of their chat turns over in Link’s thoughts like a worry stone—smooth at the edges, fits easily into his palm in lieu of a physical item wrapped with care and brought from home. 

The milder-than-usual autumn air follows Link into Mythical, and he puts on his best face to at least spare Rhett a warm wish.

He’s already in the office, typing away at his desk in the routine of answering emails from potential sponsors and partnerships. When Link enters and sets his bag on the floor to remove his hoodie, Rhett doesn’t look up.

“Happy birthday, man!” Link sings, tossing his jacket to the couch and awaiting Rhett’s reaction with a smile.

“Thanks, brother.” But Rhett doesn’t look up.

Link waffles from foot to foot. “I, uh. I didn’t get you anything.”

“Just what I wanted.” When the corners of Rhett’s lips twitch into a smile, a weight lifts from Link’s shoulders. Good to know they’re both relieved.

“Family do anything for ya this morning?” ventures Link as he moves to take his space opposite Rhett—they’d rearranged, easier to talk this way—and fishes his computer out, setting it down ceremoniously.

“Oh, God yeah,” Rhett chuckles—and it’s silly and expected because they’re his freakin’ _ family, _but guilt nibbles the back of Link’s mind nonetheless in an unpleasant tickle. Link is Rhett’s family, too, isn’t he? “The boys made breakfast for me. Bacon and eggs on toast. Can you believe it? ‘Bout near drained our smoke detector of its batteries.”

“Even with Locke’s supervision?!”

“He don’t know any better’n Shepherd,” Rhett laughs, shaking his head at his laptop.

Link considers him, chewing the inside of his cheek. There’s a tint of white-blue light on his best friend’s features as he scans his work for the day, serene. _ Happy birthday, _Link wishes him again, even if Rhett won’t hear it. Would it be too strange to pull out his phone and snap a quick photo? When you’ve been with someone for so long, life tends to get away from you. It’s all one seamless slide into the future where you forget specific moments like this.

_ This _is what Rhett looks like on the morning of his 42nd birthday.

“What about Jessie?” Link asks. It’s meant to be casual, yet feels anything but with the pregnant pause leading up to it. How to be nonchalant when he knows he’s starting to fixate? Link drums his fingers on the desk and clicks around to wake up his Mac.

“What, you hopin’ to get some dirty details?”

Link balks—but when he looks up, Rhett is smirking with a cocked eyebrow.

Fine. Link can play along. “Only if they were actually ‘dirty’, Mister Vanilla.”

“That _ is _the flavor of the cake Jessie ordered for me,” Rhett dissolves into burgeoning laughter, whisking Link right along with him. They hem and haw together until Rhett sighs, returning his smile to his computer. “Nah, man. We didn’t mess around this morning.”

“She didn’t get you nothin’?” That seems... unlikely. “She’s your wife. She musta done _ something.” _

“Well, you’re my best friend and you didn’t get me nothin’, either,” Rhett points out, tilting his head with gentle green eyes. “I told her not to worry about it, so… no gifts this year.”

This doesn’t feel right. _ Someone _should give Rhett a present.

Rhett pauses, seemingly remembering something before reaching down and digging through his work bag by his feet. “She does usually writes me a letter, though. You know that. Just haven’t read this one yet.” As promised, he straightens and drops an envelope on the desk, nudging it away from himself with a knuckle.

Such a sweet gesture. “Why haven’t you read it? Pushin’ it away.”

“I mean—I love ‘em, don’t get me wrong.” Rhett crosses his arms and gives Link a stern look, eyebrows knit. “S’embarrassing, I guess. I know therapy’s helpin’, but you can vouch for me: I’ve never been good at… _ feelings _.”

“Right. The whole ‘being human’ thing,” quips Link. Without asking permission he collects the envelope. Light; must not be a long letter. He ticks his eyes back to Rhett with a tried-on smile. “I’m teasing. You know that, right?”

“I know it,” Rhett says softly, smiling back.

Link inspects the tucked flap of the letter. “You want me to read it to you?”

“What?”

Running a finger along the seam of the folded paper, he lifts one shoulder. “I dunno. Maybe it’d be easier to hear from another person.”

“That sounds even _ more _embarrassing.”

“There ain’t like… sexy stuff in ‘em, is there?” asks Link, trying not to grin and waggle his eyebrows at the notion of getting back at Rhett for all the jokes about Christy.

Rhett simply huffs. “No. It’s still intimate, though.”

“Right… right. Don’t need me sayin’ words to you that a spouse would say,” muses Link as he taps the edge of envelope on the desktop. “That’s fair. I was curious, is all. Been tellin’ me about these letters for years now and never told me what was in any of ‘em.”

There’s a moment of quiet where Rhett sucks his teeth, and Link glimpses up in time to catch his tongue dart out over his lower lip. 

“Go ‘head, then. You might be disappointed, though. It’s just stuff like what you tell Christy on _ her _birthday every year. Those captions,” he pantomimes like he’s taking a photo of Link—and Link wishes, again, that he could snap one of Rhett—“the ones you leave on Instagram.”

Link barely hesitates for a full second before he shrugs, scooting his chair in. “Alright.” The crinkling of paper joins the dull hum of computer fans while Link retrieves the letter and smooths it out. He’d been right; it isn’t very long. The script is bubbly yet elegant, and Link smiles when he envisions Jessie hunched over the kitchen counter last night, penning her thoughts for Rhett. She really is a sweetheart.

_ “Rhett McLaughlin,” _Link begins, pausing to eye Rhett over their laptops. “Awf’ly formal.”

“They always are. I think she’s going for a ‘renewed wedding vow’ vibe.” 

He’d claimed he would be embarrassed, but Rhett seems fine. Maybe he’s putting on a face and this is all just another game for him to win, which actually works out for Link; it means he gets to see if this letter is reminder enough to Rhett of how wonderful and deserving of the world he is. How selfless, and kind. The pillar in the lives of those around him.

Link pops out the sheet like a newspaper and continues.

_ “Happy birthday, love. You’re 42 now. Can you believe how quickly time passes?” _

Funny. Maybe that’s a universal sentiment for middle-aged folks.

_ “Seems like just last week that you were asking me to marry you, inviting me into your world, wanting to be a part of mine. I swear we brought Locke home from the hospital just yesterday. But I’ve got proof that isn’t true: both he and Shepherd look more and more like you as time passes, baby.” _

A little weird with the pet name, but more than anything Link’s in agreement. He looks up and finds Rhett slightly wide-eyed, as if Link’s sudden attention had broken him from a trance. “It really _ does _feel like that was yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Rhett agrees, bobbing his head slowly.

_ “I couldn’t have asked for a better partner on the journey of life, Rhett. Through ups and downs and struggles and smooth sailing, we’ve been together for all of it. I want you to know that you’re the best husband in the world, and couldn’t be a better father to our children.” _

Link’s cheeks are hot, playing middle-man. Maybe he _ shouldn’t _ have wanted to read this so badly. Rhett’s right, it’s pretty dang mushy. With a nervous chuckle, he steals another look at Rhett, whose ears appear warmer than usual. “She’s forgetting about _ me,” _ Link jokes, rolling his eyes. “_I’m _the best husband in the world.”

It works; Rhett laughs and scratches his nose, belly shaking silently.

_ “I love you, Rhett. I always will. I would pull down the moon for you, if you asked me to—though I might need to sit on your shoulders for a boost. You deserve anything and everything you want, darling. I want to give that to you… so I talked to Christy last night.” _

Link pauses, brow furrowed, re-reading the last line and puffing a laughing, “What?” Rhett’s squinting at the paper and Link glares at him. “Is this some kinda intricate prank? Now _ Jessie’s _in on the wife-swapping?”

“What? No! I don’t…” 

As Link watches, Rhett’s face morphs; bewildered confusion is swiftly replaced with unadulterated terror, eyes bolted wide and pallor pale. He startles, arm shooting across the desk to try and snatch the letter away—but Link startles too, jumping from his seat and reading before Rhett can revoke the privilege physically. 

This involves his wife, doesn’t it? It’s about _ Christy, _so Link deserves to know what the fuck the rest of this says.

He backs towards the couch, eyes flying on the words and lips struggling to keep up. Rhett’s swearing and clambering to get out of his own seat, desperate.

_ “Twenty years is a long time to deny yourself of something you feel this strongly abou—” _

Rhett crashes into Link, all niceties lost. They fall to the couch cushions in a rough tangle of shoving arms and grunts of pain, Rhett muttering in fervency and making wild grabs, “Give it, gimme the letter, Link! This isn’t a joke, give it—”

Link presses his lips thin and shields the paper from Rhett, an unwilling participant in a wrestling match on the couch. Jesus Christ, Rhett’s lost his mind! “It’s about you and Christy!! I’m gonna read it!”

“No, it’s—it’s not about—Link, _ please,” _Rhett begs like a man on death row, his own “I’m dead” move only held at bay by Link’s straining legs. The smaller one stretches the paper above his head, out of Rhett’s reach, and reads again, blurting out the next line:

_ “—so if Link feels the same way about you, you have both our blessings!” _

Rhett stops.

Link stares at the line, chest heaving, mind teetering into a spin. In a dizzy crawl, he distantly feels Rhett’s weight ease off of him, recoiling to the other side of the couch and settling into stillness.

_ If Link feels the same way about you. _

Swallowing. Throat dry. Heart pounding in his ears with the gush of rushing blood. Face hot—everything hot.

Rhett had been right again. It _ wasn’t _about Christy.

And he’d known. And he’d… 

_ Shit. He tried to stop me from reading it. And I read it anyway. _

Link lets out a shaking exhale. He wants to look at Rhett, to check on him and apologize. But he can’t handle that right now; he isn’t sure _ he’s _okay, with his own heart fixing to burst from his ribs. His world is off-kilter now, too—as with everything, he’s right there with Rhett. Living through this. Dizzy and raw.

_ Twenty years. _

_ Since college. _

_ That’s when I—when we _ both… _ Jesus. _

Neither of them has yet to break the silence. And if Rhett’s going through the same thing, it isn’t that Link doesn’t _ want _to—there just… aren’t any words. Over the course of a thirty second frenzy wilder than any fake UFC match in their dorm, everything had been shaken up and dumped out, the pieces left for them to deal with.

But they can’t stay like this. Not right now. Not in this limbo where white-hot admissions have burned through a layer carefully built between them, one decades in the making.

Link doesn’t have any words…but Jessie does. There’s more, on the page held high.

Link borrows them, voice quivering.

_ “I know you told me you didn’t want a gift this year. But if I can’t give you anything in the future, then I’d better make my last one count.” _ Link swallows, hands trembling on the paper. _ “I love you, Rhett McLaughlin. Happy birthday.” _

Rhett still hasn’t moved. 

It takes another full minute before Link finds his gravity rightside-up again, and when he gazes down at the other end of the couch, Rhett’s sitting with his face in his hands, hunched over on his knees. 

Link gulps, scooting to a sit and collecting himself. Carefully, he lays the letter on their coffee table and dares to close the distance to Rhett’s side. Places a gentle hand on Rhett’s back. 

If Rhett minds, he doesn’t move to indicate as much.

“Rhett.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m—I’m sorry I kept reading when you didn’t want me to. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You’re apologizing,” Rhett states, and the most lovely noise Link has ever heard—a disbelieving chuckle, airy and amused—finds his ears. “That’s _ my _job.”

“Rhett,” Link tries again, and finally Rhett lets his hands fall away from his face, sight distant and zoned out on nothing. Still wide from shock. 

_ Everything’s okay. Tell him. _

“Look at me.”

The effort it takes seems monumental, but sure enough Rhett inches his gaze over, head following until he meets Link’s eyes. Something must happen internally, or maybe something’s written on Link’s face—because as soon as the contact happens, Rhett relaxes a hair.

“That’s… _ not _what’s usually in my birthday letters,” Rhett whispers, eyebrows tight in self-chagrin, and Link actually laughs.

“You don’t say? Your wife doesn’t usually tell you it would be okay to court me?”

“Uhh. _ No.” _Rhett runs his hands over his eyes and up into his hair with a groan. “I can’t believe you read that. Out loud, to my face.” Link spares a glance at the letter once more, and beside him, Rhett murmurs, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Link. Can we pretend this didn’t happen, please? I just—I don’t want anything to change between us.”

“You don’t…?” Link echoes, and Rhett flounders.

“I—I mean… okay, that’s _technically _a lie, but you know what I mean.”

Link does. He does, because until right now _ he’d _ been the one terrified of being found out. Of having his life, his family, his _ existence _upended by the very same secret getting out. 

But Christy knows. And Jessie knows. 

And now _ they _both know.

And somehow, everything is fine. Impossible as it seems—as defiant as it is to every nightmare Link’s ever had about losing everything—the world hasn’t ended.

“Rhett,” Link mutters, whipping back around to look at him, and Rhett sits up in surprise. “I got you a gift too. It’s not as good as Jessie’s, but...”

Rhett blinks at him. “I told you not to.”

“Just take it,” Link breathes, surging forward with every beat of courage his heart’s ever lent and kissing Rhett. 

Rhett jumps at the harsh contact of their lips, but no sooner does the shock wear off than he’s shivering with an airy groan and gathering Link into his arms, keeping him close and letting touches savor against his sides and neck. Their hands explore as soon as Link licks into Rhett’s mouth for the first time, and they test the shape and warmth of limbs and curves they could identify in their sleep, somehow re-learning everything there is to learn about one another: that Rhett presses forward when he kisses, wants _more _from his partner in the same way he’s always demanded; that Link can’t decide where to put his hands, having fantasized one too many times to make a finite decision, and so lets them roam; and that Rhett is careful as can be when he lays Link down on their couch, immune to the idea that they might be walked in on.

As if their wives wouldn’t congratulate them, having found out.

“Rhett,” Link gasps to break the kiss, collecting Rhett’s bearded jawline in his palms to ease their attention together before things progress. He cards his fingers through the tawny hairs there, able to appreciate them for once at his leisure and not in a flighty foray.

“Best birthday ever,” Rhett intones, smiling coyly and examining Link with twinkling eyes. “What were you gonna say?”

Link smiles. He’d been about to wish Rhett "happy birthday" a second time. Apologize for not getting him a real gift, even though he deserves it.

_ Oh well. _

_ Our wives give the best presents, anyway, _Link thinks with a tickled smile, starting another deep kiss with Rhett.


End file.
